I'm looking at getting a new wheel/tire set up on my 2005 GT. Right now I have 17" alloy bullitt wheels on it (235/55ZR17 tires)
My questions:
1. I want to do a staggered set up- it's hard to find that in 17"- if I go to 18" will I need to change my tune?
2. Is there anything else I need to know about changing from 17 to 18 inch wheels.
Am I overthinking this? Can i just buy the wheels, pop them on and go, or are there things I need to be considering when going up a wheel size?

Why is it so darn hard to find black bullit staggered wheels in 17?

Thanks!

 

1) You will not NEED a tune, but your speedometer will be off some. Use this link and put in old/new sizes to find out how much. If you get/have a tuner it is really easy to adjust it yourself.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

2) Need to consider how much better the black will look with those black stripes!

/People seem to like bigger heavier wheels now, it is estimated that by 2025 the stack GT will have 24"ers. But seriously, the bigger wheels allow for bigger brakes and fills up the HUGE gap Ford loves to give us.

 

Depending on what width 18" wheel you go with, you may need to install a steering stop, if your car came from the factory with 17" inch wheels. The following is directly from Ford:

For vehicles with 17 wheels from the factory:

• installing 18 x 8.5 or 18 x 9.5 wheels, use steering stop 6R3Z-3932-CA

If your car came with 18" inch wheels from the factory, you're good to go!